I only wish it did.
Instead, kernel panic is what happens when your computer has major issues. As in time to bring it into the shop. Like you better hope you have everything backed up.

Been chatting that “Back-Up” stuff here for awhile and before taking in the sick friend, read MacPro, triple backed up the photos.

I’m using a G-Speed ES, G-Raid, and a G-Tech Mini.
Paranoid? perhaps. Realistic? you betcha.
It’s not a matter of “if” but “when”. Your Hard drive will crash.

So, the news today come from a company that introduced a great product last year, the Drobo external hard drive back up system. They were all about stacking a group of hard drives and making it easy to back up your work.
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One problem: it was not firewire 800. Why, oh why would they do that?
It’s not just a computer nerd lament, but a matter of speed. You want to back up those new, huge, photofiles fast. Especially if you are creating and saving larger files for publication. You need Firewire 800. Varooom.

Well, they heard us all, and came back to with the new Drobo.

Data Robotics, manufacturer of the Drobo storage device, has introduced a second-generation model with FireWire 800, improved USB 2.0 performance and an upgraded core processor. The company claims the new Drobo is the fastest product in its class for managing and storing digital information.

The increased read-and-write performance now makes the Drobo ideal for use as primary storage for media applications such as HD video editing and photography, as well as secondary storage, the company said.

The first-generation Drobo was popular because it allowed non-technical users to create redundant disk arrays with the simple plug-and-play of generic disk drives of various sizes and types. The Drobo automatically configured the drives for use, freeing the user from the technical details. New enhancements include an upgraded core processor, two FireWire 800 ports, dramatically increased USB 2.0 performance, and newly optimized firmware.

Current expansion for the new model Drobo is up to 16 TB. It also has the ability to take advantage of mix-and-match drive capacities. The unit has two FireWire 800/400 ports and one USB 2.0 port.

The new Drobo is priced at $499 and also comes in a 2TB version for $899, and a 4TB version for $1,299.

Look, I still have negatives from when i was 8 years old.
On the other hand, I have lost digital files of very personal photographs.
I will do everything I can to prevent that from happening ever again.

Be smart, be safe, back it up.
Darn. Wish i could come up with a better slogan
Anybody?….Bueller?….Bueller?……Bueller?………..

OK, It’s time to check in on the kernel panic. Hopefully the triage went well.

We’ve said it before: the right tool for the right job.
If you have ever had to shoot an event like a wedding, party,business gathering, celebrities, and wanted to be compact, change lenses fast to make sure you got the shot, the BODA lens bag is a great choice.
We’ve discussed other bags in this category like the Shootsac, another lens bag for the event photographer. Differnt strokes and styles.

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Boda Lens Bag:2 sizes pictured: the Jr on the left and the full size one we discuss here.

It’s essentially a shoulder bag, that will hold your lenses, battery pack,strobe, and the accessories that help you get your job done
The other stuff you use :notebook, pens,business cards, phone, media card wallet also have special pockets.

OK, why do you need yet another bag? Because this one Continue Reading »

The Getty Museum has, once again, brought out gold from its massive photography collection.
This time it’s from the German Portraitist, August Sander: People of the Twentieth Century
From the early 1900’s to before WWII he traveled his view camera from city to farmland posing his subjects with appropriate wardrobe and accoutrement to show respect and place them in a proper societal category.

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Farmer from the Westerwald, 1910
This image above also illustrated the power and beauty of a silver print. If you can, you should see it in person

The exhibit covers a social examination that was his dream project illustrating a class system in Germany that he also felt reflected common human conditions.

It’s a brilliant rich exhibit, shown in one of the premier galleries currently in existence.

There is a “but” here, though. The website descriptors give you a full overview and break down August Sanders massive social project, unfinished as it was.

However, as is the case with many art historians, there is a tendency Continue Reading »

Only 3 weeks until the Summer Olympics opens in Beijing. The coverage will start to inundate the airwaves, website, and every other screen.
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So we wanted to take another look at the photography scene there, and in this case Out Of The Red.
In a country with over 1.4 billion people, the diversity and experience of the artists has only been revealed to the western world in unfortunately relatively small doses.

It’s not the historical images we’re looking at right now, like those in the Sidney D. Gamble collection from the beginning of the century, or those from Fan Ho of Hong Kong of the 50’s. It’s finding the culture of the China we know today, and the photography that has emerged.

We’re not going to discuss the politics of the government here, because you are all wise enough to realize that from controversy can come great art. Sometimes it’s complacency that produces non challenging art. Neither is a judgment, but an observation.

The art world has been tracking these artists for a while and their popularity is racheting up.
As in, their prices are skyrocketing.

“Out of communist China, out of the cultural revolution, out of a closed world… Out of the Red presents photography at the end of this outage, at the start of a new generation of Chinese image makers. What does a young photographer see in the viewfinder of her camera in Beijing, Shanghai, along the Yuan River? The latest generation of Chinese photographers is given free reign across these pages. Witness the visions of Li Wei, Weng Fen, Lin Tianmiao & Wang Gongxin, Chen Lingyang, Huang Yan, Liu Jin, Ma Liuming, Wang Qingsong, Yang Fudong, Yang Zhengzhong, Xu Zhen, Zhao Bandi, Cui Xiuwen, Zhou Meijun, Song Yongping, Bai Yiluo, Hong Lei, and Liu Zheng. With an introduction by Francesca Jordan, an English critic and curator who lives China, and Shu Jang, a Chinese critic, curator, and artist.”

Now this book is a couple of years old, and the door has opened for a ton more photographers since it’s publication. At the Houston FotoFest this spring, China was the country of honor and many new artists were featured. The link will give you some samples.

It’s easy to get one of these books for free from photoinduced.com
This is how:
First of all you MUST be signed up for the NEWSLETTER. Then…. Continue Reading »